Mounting the driver and plate amp

[qguy]

What do you use to mount the driver (15 inch) and the plate amp to an MDF enclosure. I reckon wood screws would not be ideal. I was thinking of T-nuts ? Sounds good ? Would HEX bolts (is thats whats its called ???) be ideal for the driver ?

[Cal Weldon]

T-nut are good. So are hurricane nuts and threaded inserts. I wouldn't use hex bolts as they require a socket that has to go around it and that can damage the front woofer gasket. Use Robertson, Phillips, Allen or Torx with a round head, Allen head or panhead.

[audio-kraut]

I reckon wood screws would not be ideal

Why not? as long as you have a 3/4" board to screw in pre-drill and use #12 robertson roundhead. No problem with my sub amp.

[qguy]

Allen Heads!!! .. thats what i meant when i said hex bolts :-)

Originally Posted by Cal Weldon

T-nut are good. So are hurricane nuts and threaded inserts. I wouldn't use hex bolts as they require a socket that has to go around it and that can damage the front woofer gasket. Use Robertson, Phillips, Allen or Torx with a round head, Allen head or panhead.

[Cal Weldon]

a-k, if qguy is asking what bolts to mount with, I get the feeling there will be some tinkering going on after it is built, hence the suggestions of reusable threads. Old hats like you and me might not pull things apart as often as the newer ones so screws are fine. Also Robertson might not be available in Manila without a special order.

[qguy]

its DIY, in my case theres going to be a lot of screwing and unscrewing which may eventually make the hole loose, sounds familiar huh

Originally Posted by audio-kraut

Why not? as long as you have a 3/4" board to screw in pre-drill and use #12 robertson roundhead. No problem with my sub amp.

[qguy]

Cal,

I am in Vancouver / BC right now :-) I would prefer Allen heads and T-nuts. So i guess I am going with these, unless someone objects to these.

Whats the best place to get these ? Online shops would be ok as well as brick and mortar stores

Originally Posted by Cal Weldon

a-k, if qguy is asking what bolts to mount with, I get the feeling there will be some tinkering going on after it is built, hence the suggestions of reusable threads. Old hats like you and me might not pull things apart as often as the newer ones so screws are fine. Also Robertson might not be available in Manilla without a special order.

[audio-kraut]

screwing and unscrewing which may eventually make the hole loose, sounds familiar huh

can hardly remember.

But you are right. For that kind of diy I have to agree with Cal. Allan bolts and T-nuts work well. I use them to mount speakers. The reason there: due to cabinet vibrations I had some screws come loose..no, not there, the ones that I used to mount the speakers. And after several rounds of re tightening...the holes wore out...if I could only remember...

[qguy]

When you pre-drill the hole for the bolt, do you use a larger bit to make the bolt slide through going straight to the nut or do you use a smaller diameter bit to make the threads bite into the mdf and into the nut for an air tight seal ?

[weltersys]

Originally Posted by Cal Weldon

a-k, if qguy is asking what bolts to mount with, I get the feeling there will be some tinkering going on after it is built, hence the suggestions of reusable threads. Old hats like you and me might not pull things apart as often as the newer ones so screws are fine. Also Robertson might not be available in Manila without a special order.

Reusable threads are a good idea, but can be added if one does re-use an enclosure enough to wear out the threads in the material.
A toothpick and glue will fix a loose screw hole too.

I tried at least a half dozen different speakers in an MDF cabinet prior to finally selling it a few weeks ago, and none of the screw holes had stripped out.
Of course, knowing how easy it is to strip MDF, I always torqued the screws by hand.